Art by space shuttle astronauts' children reminds us of the people behind space flight.

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For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past.(Photo: CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY)Buy Photo

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NASA's Lessons Learned program? Powerful art created while waiting for mom or dad to launch from KSC

Collection of whiteboards decorated by space shuttle astronauts' kids is not on public display

For the astronauts' kids: Doodles, messages for every shuttle mission after Challenger explosion

Rainbows and rockets illustrate the heartfelt messages written by little hands. Stars and moons smile over astronauts and space dogs. And some messages appear again and again: Good luck and Godspeed!

When space shuttles returned to flight in 1988 after the Challenger explosion, a new tradition was born. Provided with whiteboards and colorful markers, the astronauts' families were encouraged to express their feelings – anxiety, pride, fear, excitement – through art.

Today, almost 100 colorfully decorated whiteboards line the office hallways at Kennedy Space Center, tangible reminders of the real people behind the dream of reaching for the stars. To these artists and writers, the astronauts were not just national heroes, but Mom and Dad.

NASA has not exhibited the boards publicly out of respect for the privacy of the families who created them, but did agree to give FLORIDA TODAY a look.

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For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every Space Shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every Space Shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

For every Space Shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past. CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY

People around the world breathed a collective sigh of relief when Discovery launched safely almost three years after the 1986 Challenger explosion. But perhaps no one felt the relief more keenly than the astronauts’ children, who gathered at KSC to watch their parents go on the adventure of a lifetime, not knowing whether they would come home again.

"It was a lot harder to watch me launch than it was to actually sit in the rocket," said astronaut Mike Good, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who flew twice aboard space shuttle Atlantis.

I bet you didn't know that the walls of the @NASAKennedy LCC are lined with whiteboards full of children's art from the post Challenger missions. Each one is like a time capsule. https://t.co/axNgngDGBu

Good remembers the difficult moment when he had to pivot away from his family and focus instead on the mission. His three grown children attended his shuttle launches, along with one grandchild who was a baby at the time. Before entering a pre-launch quarantine, the astronauts had a chance to spend time with family and say goodbye.

"Everyone wishes you luck, and off you go," he said. "There are some tears shed at that goodbye, because there’s the reality of it. This could be the last time I see you, the last time I hug you, the last time I kiss you goodbye."

Astronaut Mike Good seen in 2010 before launching on STS-132.(Photo: Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY)

Before long, NASA began to see the whiteboards as far more than just a handy outlet for family members' nervous pre-launch energy.

“We saw that amazing works of art were being created," Ciannilli said. "We realized we have to capture this and preserve it for the future. And our appreciation for the art has only grown over the years.”

The whiteboard tradition continued until the last space shuttle mission in 2011. Ninety-seven times, shuttle astronauts’ families gathered on launch days, unleashed their creativity and made art.

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Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

Tim Dodd, a photographer from Iowa, purchased a Russian high-altitude flight suit in 2013 as a joke. But since then, his persona as Everyday Astronaut has taken on a life of its own. Courtesy Tim Dodd / Everyday Astronaut

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Universal themes

The messages are personal, but they speak for thousands of well-wishers across the country and around the world. They speak for all of us who stood on the beach or lined the causeways to feel the thrill of a launch, or who were ushered outside by teachers to watch a shuttle soar into the sky.

Although we didn't know the astronauts personally, we cheered for them and feared for their safety as if we were family.

"That’s a big part of our mission: to connect, not just with our families, but with everyone, and to bring the experience of flying in space back home to all the people on the team, and all the people in the country that are supporting us," Good said.

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For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in Kennedy Space Center offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past.(Photo: CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY)

Outsider art

Most people, most of the time, don’t go around writing about emotions. As adults, many of us become uncomfortable if we are asked to express our feelings, especially under highly charged circumstances.

But the words and drawings on the whiteboards are heartfelt, poetic in their childlike exuberance. Some are funny; one can almost see the pained adolescent eyeroll that accompanied I’ve been to Florida way too much, or the toothy grin that almost certainly went with Don’t break anything, Dad!

Some boards are elaborately decorated. Others resemble the autographed pages of a high school yearbook, scrawled with inside jokes and well wishes.

I love these whiteboards decorated by 👩🏻‍🚀 👨🏽‍🚀 ‘s children before their Space Shuttle 🚀 launches, but definitely cause a gamut of emotions in me https://t.co/TsrvLyYNP4

Although the astronauts wouldn't get to see the whiteboards until after their flights, the tradition was important to the family members. "It was their way to talk to us when we couldn’t be there, to connect with us and wish us luck," Good said. "They were there with us."

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Craig Rubadoux/florida today
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lights up the sky after liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as it streaks past a monument in Titusville at Space View Park.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon cargo capsule aboard lights up the sky after liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch complex 40 as it streaks past a Space Shuttle monument in Titusville early Saturday morning on it's way to the International Space Station.The Historic launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 will land a 14-story high booster on a barge in the ocean . CRAIG RUBADOUX/2015 FLORIDA TODAY FILE

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fl. Friday night, January 20, 2017. Photo shows the view from just north of Pineda Causeway north of Melbourne, Fl., along the Indian River Lagoon. TIM SHORTT/FLORIDA TODAY

An Orbital ATK Minotaur IV rocket lifts off from Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Saturday, August 26, 2017. The rocket is carrying the ORS-5 satellite for the US Military. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY

An Orbital ATK Minotaur IV rocket lifts off from Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Saturday, August 26, 2017. The rocket is carrying the ORS-5 satellite for the US Military. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY

On Dec. 15, 2017, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched International Space Station supplies from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Another Falcon 9 rocket is targeting an 8 p.m. Friday liftoff with a classified U.S. government mission. SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center Thursday, March 16, 2017. The rocket, carrying the Echostar XXIII communications satellite was delayed from Tuesday due to high winds. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY

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A jet trail in the background looking like a rocket launch, as the band plays.The rock band Canaan & Friends performs at the "8th Wonder of the World Party" at Space Coast Harley-Davidson in Palm Bay. TIM SHORTT/FLORIDA TODAY

On Dec. 15, 2017, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule blasted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the first launch from the pad since a Falcon 9 exploded during a fueling test there more than a year earlier. SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the government's secret Zuma payload flew from Launch Complex 40 at Canaveral Air Force Station at 8 p.m. Sunday. The first stage of the rocket returned to the Cape Canaveral, successfully touching down at Landing Zone 1. Photograph is an 8-minute time exposure of the launch and landing in one photo taken from the Ocean Club Marina at Port Canaveral. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

On Sept. 2, 2015, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Navy's MUOS-4 satellite lit up the sky after launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:18 a.m. Craig Rubadoux/FLORIDA TODAY

Colorful contrails are created as the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket begins its ascent and the first stage descends after liftoff from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018. The rocket was carrying the classified Zuma payload for the U.S. Government. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Saturday, March 18, 2017. The rocket is carrying the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) for the US military. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a classified national security mission launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday morning at 3:28 a.m.
The launch of the National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-52 mission is seen streaking into the clouds in a 137 second time exposure with the Exploration Tower at Port Canaveral in the foreground. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Friday night with a 10,000-pound SBIRS (Space Based Infrared System satellite) designed to detect ballistic missiles. A 133 second time exposure of the launch with the Cocoa Beach Pier in the foreground.
MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

On July 18, 2016, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a Dragon cargo capsule from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to the International Space Station. The rocket booster returned to the Cape for landing. In the foreground is SpaceX's hangar at Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX

On Jan. 20, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 41 carrying the Air Force's third Space-Based Infrared System missile warning satellite. The program's next launch is targeted for mid-January. United Launch Alliance

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a classified national security mission launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday morning at 3:28 a.m.
The launch of the National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-52 mission is seen streaking into the clouds in a 150 second time exposure. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a classified national security mission launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday morning at 3:28 a.m.
The launch of the National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-52 mission is seen disappearing into the clouds, viewed from Port Canaveral. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 3:28 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017. The rocket is carrying the classified NROL-52 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY

Launch of Orbital ATK’s Minotaur IV rocket from the state-run Launch Complex 46, at the easternmost tip of Cape Canaveral at 2:04 a.m Saturday morning. The rocket, nearly 78 feet tall, is the first launch from Complex 46 in almost 19 years. 80 second time exposure of launch viewed from Jetty Park. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

The SpaceX launch of a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 12:31 p.m. with a Dragon spacecraft destined for the International Space Station. The booster landed back at Cape Canaveral Air Force after launch. Crowds watched the landing from on the beach and in the ocean in Cape Canaveral. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station March 18. The rocket was carrying the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) for the U.S. military. CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Monday, April 2, 2018, with a Dragon spacecraft destined for the International Space Station. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY-USA TODAY NETWORK

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Monday, April 2, 2018, with a Dragon spacecraft destined for the International Space Station. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY-USA TODAY NETWORK

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Monday, April 2, 2018. The rocket will carry supplies to the International Space Station Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY-USA TODAY NETWORK

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Monday, April 2, 2018, with a Dragon spacecraft destined for the International Space Station. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY-USA TODAY NETWORK

December 2017: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with a Dragon spacecraft for the company's 13th mission to the International Space Station. SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Kennedy Space Center with the SES-10 communications satellite on March 30, 2017. It was the first time a large orbital rocket had been reused to deliver a second mission to orbit. SpaceX

December 2017: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with a Dragon spacecraft for the company's 13th mission to the International Space Station. SpaceX

The SpaceX launch of a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center at 12:31 p.m. with a Dragon spacecraft destined for the International Space Station. The booster landed back at Cape Canaveral Air Force after launch. Crowds watched the landing from on the beach and in the ocean in Cape Canaveral. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the government's secret Zuma payload flew from Launch Complex 40 at Canaveral Air Force Station at 8 p.m. Sunday. The first stage of the rocket returned to the Cape Canaveral, successfully touching down at Landing Zone 1. Photograph is an 8-minute time exposure of the launch and landing in one photo taken from the Ocean Club Marina at Port Canaveral. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

Photographers and fishermen watch the drone ship enter the port. The sooty, charred first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was towed into Port Canaveral before dawn Tuesday morning aboard the drone ship " Of course I still love you." The booster has flown twice on Falcon 9 launches. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday, Dec. 15, 2017 on a mission to the International Space Station and returned for a successful landing shortly after liftoff. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday, Dec. 15, 2017 on a mission to the International Space Station and returned for a successful landing shortly after liftoff. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY

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The boards are also dotted with famous names. Bill and Hillary Clinton both signed the whiteboard for Discovery's mission in October 1998, which saw John Glenn's return to space. An upper corner of that board reads, We're proud of you Grandpa! accompanied Daniel Glenn's drawings comparing "Grandpa John" in 1962 and 1998.

Among the most touching are the drawings by the youngest children. Some of them are little more than scrawls. Others depict the launch filtered through a young imagination: smiling stick figure astronauts soaring on colorful space shuttles overseen by happy green aliens.

“How they view what’s happening that day is different based on their ages and experiences. There’s a range of emotion, just like anyone would have if their parent was doing something adventurous,” Ciannilli said.

The family members who drew on the whiteboards probably didn't consider themselves artists or intend to convey a deeper message, they were just doodling notes to their loved ones. But with time and perspective, the whiteboards have evolved into something poignant. Like an art exhibit, the collection reflects a powerful human experience.

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For every space shuttle mission after the Challenger explosion, NASA encouraged the astronauts' children to decorate whiteboards while they waited for launch. The boards remain on display in KSC offices, tangible reminders of the lessons of the past.(Photo: CHRISTINA LAFORTUNE/FLORIDA TODAY)

Looking forward

While the whiteboards are not on public display, they still play a valuable role at Kennedy Space Center.

"We’re taking our past, and through innovation, we’re effectively teaching those lessons for a brand new generation," Ciannilli said.

The whiteboards serve as a powerful reminder of the real people behind the mission: real people who are loved, who are more than their jobs.

“We need to be fully responsible for our actions, fully responsible for learning and doing the best job we possibly can to get our folks back home safely,” Ciannilli said.

Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on the STS-132 mission in May 2010.(Photo: NASA)

The idea of spaceflight is dazzling, capturing the imagination with the promise of adventure. It is easy to get swept up in the drama of interplanetary travel and exploration; that dream continues to inspire us, even as we move closer to making it a reality.

But the dream of reaching for the stars is both glorious and difficult. Nothing about it is easy, and nothing should be taken for granted.

“Launching rockets is a challenging business,” Ciannilli said. “We never want to lose sight of the folks who are riding on top of those rockets, and the families behind them.”